Park weekend

It was a very park-oriented weekend. Dad spent most of his weekend managing a two day concert beer-tasting-for-charity festival at the theater (including an amazing concert with Swedish-by-way-of-New-Orleans bluesman Anders Osborne, above), but was way ready to go for two hours of play at the park on Sunday morning.

Amy stayed home to get some reading done (her Master's of Social Work program begins on Wednesday), but the three of us enjoyed the late-August weather and a nice, quiet morning together.

We went to two different playgrounds. The first was pretty typical stuff, some swinging, sliding, climbing, and jumping.

Then we went to the other playground, which is shaped like a ship. We got the ship operational (and launched a few missiles ... a must for the six year old). Then we turned our attention to catching all of the fish (sticks of all sizes) we could find. We gathered them, brought them to the top of the slide and sent them down to make (ironically) "fish sticks."

Another family came by while we were playing and we incorporated them in the game. But I think they thought we were crazy because they hustled away after about 15 minutes.

After Owen did his best Captain Ahab, I had them both pose with the biggest fish (stick) of the day so you would believe them when they told you how big the catch was.

Losing His First Tooth

It's been wiggly for weeks, and tonight it finally came out.

Owen lost his first tooth. A frozen chocolate-covered banana may have been the straw that broke the camel's back (or in this case the deciduous tooth's roots).

He wiggled it and woggled it. Then, stepping out of the shower, he grabbed a Kleenex and gave it the final tug.

The adult tooth is already partway in, but you'll be able to see the gap in the bottom row.

We're waiting, Tooth Fairy!

First Grade!

Owen had his first day of school today. First grade looks like it will be pretty awesome! Many of favorite friends from his kindergarten class are in his new room and his teacher is very nice.

We all went with him to school this morning. We walked in together and got him into the line that would bring him to his room.

He seemed a little bit nervous, although he might have felt more relief than anything, as Maya did all she could to disrupt things at home this morning and turn the attention back to her.

Hopefully everything will equalize a bit at home once this transition is over.

We were all very proud of our Owen, though. Below is a picture of his mom waving good-bye to him as we left.

And here are some photos from the Meet the Teacher event we had on Wednesday night, where we got to put his supplies into his desk ...

and locker ...

and say our first hello to Mrs. Steers.

Have a great year, Owen! We love you!

St Louis Road Trip, Day 1

School starts this Thursday, so it seemed no time was better than the present to get Owen out of town for a little adventure.

I gave him his options last week and Owen made his choice. Interestingly enough, everything he wanted to do involved a return visit. Turns out Owen has been doing lots of thinking about our Spring Break trip to St. Louis last March, thinking about all he did (and didn't do) and mustering up his courage should he ever get the chance again.

Day one of our trip took us back to the City Museum. It's a very big place. A crazy place. And I can see why he wanted to come back. There are so many things to explore and courage is needed for almost everything.

Making my second visit, I'm still as impressed as ever with the architecture and artsy-ness of everything inside and out. It's a wonderland! What you'd get if Gaudi were designing ball pits and slides.

Speaking of the ball pit ... Owen has no problem getting into this thing and pelting complete strangers. It's hilarious! And he gets as good as he gives. We made three stops there during the day.

We also did a lot of climbing. This wrecked out plane was a favorite place of Owen's the last time we were there.

I also made my first trip to the City Museum's third floor, home of the world's largest pencil (see eraser below). Up there we also got Owen on a rideable model train, explored the skate-park-quality slides and took in a very fun mini circus.

Later on in the day, we found ourselves back on Delmar Avenue for a gluten free pizza at Pi. But we were also smart enough to save room for some frozen custard at Ted Drewes, a St. Louis institution.

It's a tremendous dessert, this visit made even better by a souvenir MLB batting helmet cup.

What a great day!

St. Louis Road Trip, Day 2

THE ARCH!
One of the other things Owen (yes, that's him above) was interested in doing on our St. Louis trip was a visit to the top of the Arch.

When we made our family trip there in March, the wait to ride up was nearly two hours. Weighing that with the palpable levels of anxiety expressed by several members of our traveling party to actually make the trip, it was a pretty easy decision not to wait around.

This time, though. We came prepared!

Well, sort of.

Above is a shot of Owen as they were just about to close the doors for the elevator ride to the top.

Lots of people talk about the claustrophobic feel of the cars. Yes, they're tight and have an unusual shape in comparison to their elevator brethren, but it kind of comes with the territory when the elevator shaft you'll be navigating is part of a parabola.

There's also the whole height thing. Acrophobiacs might be a little put off by the straight-down view from the top. Indeed, when I was giving Owen a boost so he could get a better view out of a window, he pushed his way back at me sensing that extra little lean might bring the whole thing down.

It was an adventure, though. We weren't up top for much more than 10 minutes, but that was enough. Our short little trip even left some extra time in our schedule so we could make a short visit back to the zoo.

Hopscotch!

The summer heat and humidity has finally passed, so we're once again regulars outside after school lots with the chalk, bikes, and balls.

The first night out with the chalk, Maya requested a hopscotch course.

It's pure joy!

Just a Bill

The BCPA had its first go this year as the producers of the long-running Miller Park Summer Theater this year. During the month of July, kids came to the Center for a month-long theater camp, as well as for evening rehearsals for "Schoolhouse Rock Live!" the stage adaptation of the favorite Saturday morning cartoon series that taught kids about science, politics, numbers, and history.

As the production got closer, it became clear we needed to come up with a plan for one of the show's key songs, the audience favorite "I'm Just a Bill."

Amy and I were gone the first weekend, so the show's director suited up. But the "Burrito Suit" was all mine for the final two shows.

All of Owen and Maya's grandparents were there for the first night, as Owen had a campout at his summer camp and we needed to check out if the bear in the Adverbs song was going to be too scary for Maya.

It wasn't, so the kids came with Amy for the closing night. Maya seemed hesitant, but enjoyed seeing me on stage. At least I think so. All she said when I came back to our seats after the number was, "The bear didn't come out here."